King Rogeth stood musing in his study. A general mess of papers and plans. He had a single oak desk against the north wall, above this was a window which viewed the entire palace. Klonkar, as the palace was known, was a series of silvery spires which stretched high into the sky. The spires were connected by a series of platforms at the base of each tower and at the top. Each spire was only a single entry into the grander scheme of the palace which consisted of a concentric circle made up by the positioning of the towers. The pattern ended in the cloud tower, this was the highest tower and the highest room was positioned above the clouds, hence the name. Only the king was allowed in the highest room not even his wife Aneth was allowed. Rogeth had only been there twice in his reign but still he wished he understood the reason behind the cloud room, this was the name given to the room at the top of the tower. There was a mystical power here, some said it was to do with the fruits but still Rogeth did not fully accept this explanation, there was something otherworldly about the object in the room.

There were nine towers at Klonkar, five in the outer circle, three in the middle and one, the cloud tower, at the centre. The first tower was the Entrance tower, the second was the Guard's tower and the third was the War tower. The War tower was where Rogeth sat currently, musing over the cities problems. The recent unrest caused by the change in monarchy and the death of the old king, Joleth, who was father to Rogeth, had saddened the people who were now looking to Rogeth for leadership. Joleth had been a good king for 36 years and if Rogeth showed in these first few critical weeks that he had the same power as his father then all would be fine, if not, then the people would rise up and force Rogeth to abdicate and leave the way open for his sister Mawreth. Rogeth did not believe that his sister would make a good queen. Especially after her visit a year and a half ago :

Rogeth had recently married Anis, daughter of Garis, her father, and Phenis, her mother. Marrying Anis forced her to take on Rogeth's name changing her name to Aneth. Possibly at the time what Mawreth had done could have been called a test of marriage but now Rogeth did not believe so.

The fire crackled in its hearth as servants busied themselves around the spacious dining hall. Exquisite tapestries of fine craftsmanship hung on the wall depicting wars of the ancient fruits. Apples and grapes against the evil tomatoes, who would often disguise themselves as vegetables for surveillance, which had, as a result of this surveillance, begun to believe the doctrines of the vegetables, especially the cabbage.

Servants bustled around keeping the King and his children well fed. Joleth looked kindly at his daughter in law. she had recently married Prince Rogeth. He wished that a kind and loving prince, especially one with a large slice of land would marry his daughter Mawreth. Mawreth's striking black hair and green eyes should have been enough to tantalise even the oldest of princes.

"So father, how goes city business?" asked Rogeth. Rogeth was quite handsome, with brown to fair hair which sat upon a well built body toned with years of combat practise instilled into him by Grawden, Captain of the Guard. His blue eyes were a subtle contrast to his hair and this created an unusual look about him. Aneth found this look attractive, as had many women before her.

"Business is good," Joleth refused to give Rogeth any tips on how he ran The Kingdom. He believed that when his son was crowned he would have to rule using his own style, not a watered down version of his fathers.

Mawreth sat listening in, she had arrived only today and was settling in after having an extended leave of absence visiting her aunt Iren. She was curious to figure out how the relationships between everyone had changed between the past 3 years that she had been away.

Rogeth looked at her sister with an air of contempt. Princesses were not supposed to have a relationship with a servant. Rogeth did not hate his sister for that, for if he truly loved a servant then he to would begin a relationship with one. What he hated her for was what she did to the servant's family. Henta, a cook, had been happily married to Xena for 10 years but when Mawreth had taken an interest in him he had believed that he had struck the big time. He thought that he would be better than everyone else. Mawreth had poisoned his mind to his wife Xena and had begun a ploy to kill Rogeth so that the heir would become Mawreth. The princess had made Henta believe that if he killed Rogeth he would be able to rule along with Mawreth. The ploy had been uncovered and Xena had left Henta who was imprisoned shortly afterwards. Mawreth had had a severe breakdown after this and could not remember any of what had happened. Joleth had propositioned that his daughter stay with his sister who was recently widowed. Mawreth would convalesce while Iren would look for signs of the evil vegetable sickness which had possessed her previously and had made her do the strange things.

The meal arrived and after blessing the fruits for the fruitful meal which had been served before them they ate. There was no disruptions throughout yet Rogeth had an uneasy feeling about his sister. She sat quietly starring at him and his wife and that disturbed the young prince. His sister was well known for trouble and even though she said that she had repented for the evil which had possessed her, Rogeth did not believe. During time he thought that maybe he could forgive Mawreth, but not yet, not now.

Aneth stood, "I tire considerably, perhaps I will go to bed."

Mawreth looked up and smiled, "I don't think you'll be getting much sleep tonight, not with you being married for such a short time."

Rogeth starred at his sister. How dare she bring up my private life at the table. "Mawreth," Rogeth chastised his sister.

Mawreth let out an innocent giggle and her face became the embodiment of embarrassment, "I'm sorry if I caused offence. I didn't mean to. It was only a joke."

"A joke," Joleth looked at his daughter through commanding eyes. "Be careful who you joke with Mawreth, some may enjoy your humour, others may find it twisted and not to their taste." Another piece of wisdom was issued from the mouth of the king. Rogeth wondered how much could come from just one man...

There was a knock at the door and Rogeth turned. Now in a position of advantage facing the thick heavy door he called out, "enter."

The door opened smoothly and in walked a servant, "The queen wishes to see your majesty in the garden tower."

The garden tower was the fourth tower and was a magnificent sight. A single spiral step swirled skyward while plants grew on various levels. Exotic palms and native flowers all on different levels. The idea behind it was to provide a place of refuge for the royal family in time of exhaustion or meditation. If there was a hint of indecision Rogeth found himself wandering the different levels depending on his desires and moods.

"Tell Queen Aneth that I have not forgotten our arrangements and that I will be along presently, I still have some business to attend to."

The servant bowed low and pardoned himself. Aneth would be displeased at the delay but it was necessary. Below his kingdom's borders to the south lay the land that belonged to the Nibe, a strong and fearless warrior race. They were on the move again near the border and Rogeth feared an onslaught soon. The border would be crossed, he could feel it. There was no way that the Nibe leader sought only troop re arrangements. No, he was planning something.

Earlier today in council with Grawden, who was still captain of the guard at 54, Rogeth had been given astonishing advice. It was more astonishing due to the reason that Rogeth had not anticipated that such a suggestion could come from the mouth of his former mentor.

They had been sat in the war room, a large conference room used not only in times of war but in times of peace. There was still a lot of negotiating to do with various parties within his own kingdom at peace time. The name was just a fancy name for a conference room. In the past it had been the hub of activity. A place of memories. Memories of wars and conquests long past. Memories of great decisions and great leaders. Memories of great crisis. Rogeth hoped that he would never pass into the memory of this tower - unlike his father :

"We must make a pre-emptive strike," argued Grawden. "We must strike before they make their incursion into our territory. We must drive them back before they can do us any harm."

"But Grawden," protested Rogeth, "Doing that would constitute an act of war. At the moment war is something that we can not risk, my position as king is as yet too weak."

"But we must push them back. Their presence constitutes a severe threat to your kingdom. The populace grows more disconcerted by the day. They want action and I propose to let them have action. Send a force to sit on the border if nothing else. Show them that we can play them at their own game, show them that we will defend our kingdom down to the last man, woman and child if need be."

"Grawden, I would never have expected those words to have come from your mouth. If I had not heard it myself I would never have believed it. You a man of reason. A man of careful thought and tactics, telling me do do something which is plainly the wrong choice. If I were to send my men down there the Nibe would be provoked, our men would die and it would be a massacre, we would have war. If I send my men down their as a pre-emptive strike then perhaps we might win the first skirmish but it would only be the first of many. We would then have to fall back, dig ourselves in and we would have war again. We have war no matter what we do. The best option is to wait, that way the Nibe will stay their side of the border and we will not have war."

"Unless their intention is for war."

And that was the thought that scared Rogeth more than anything. He stood up moving the papers aside on his desk and thought to himself that work could wait. Rogeth had been working for hours non stop and he deserved a break of some sort. Aneth had no doubt spent all morning preparing for this since she had told him yesterday to expect a surprise. He turned to face the door but he could not get the words of Grawden from his mind. They were haunting him like a ghost, following his every thoughts like a spy and would pounce on him when he least expected like an assassin.

It took Rogeth ten minutes to climb the long stair way to the top of the tower but he knew that Aneth would be using the sky garden, a garden on the top of the garden tower which had no roof. The sky garden allowed a beautiful view over the city and the scar mountains beyond.

Upon reaching the top of the war tower Rogeth sensed that he was being watched, as though eyes were playing across his back. The sensation caused him to shiver but Rogeth was ready to forget about it until he heard a slight humming. Whirling round he could see no one, but the king knew that some one had to be there. Scanning the shadows Rogeth caught sight of someone moving, "Reveal yourself, I know you're there." In that instant the figure stepped from the shadows and Rogeth shuddered in fear.